


I Look At You And I'm Home

by RavenpuffWrites



Series: Scars Verse [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, I just really love lonely Pat okay, Kid Roman was so much fun to write I really want more, Kid!Royality, Patton's story got a little sadder than I meant to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 05:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15357615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenpuffWrites/pseuds/RavenpuffWrites
Summary: Roman meets his first soulmate, and Patton finds his home.*This is the first fic in my Scars Soulmate Universe, where soulmates are identified by their matching scars. Can be read stand alone or alongside the others*





	I Look At You And I'm Home

There were a lot of differing opinions out there on why the universe had decided to use scars to link soulmates together. Some believed it was because they were such an intricate part of human nature, that it made sense to use scars rather than create a whole new mark to link the bond. Others were more cynical and said it was the universe's way of encouraging people to hurt themselves; the more unique scars they had, the easier it would be to find your soulmate.

  
If you asked Roman Castilla though, the scars served a different purpose entirely. Maybe it was just because he was a naturally protective person at heart, but for Roman, nothing served as reminder more of everything he had to lose like the scars that covered his body. From the time Roman first learned about soulmates, and how they were connected through their matching scars, Roman knew he had to do whatever he could to every stop another scar from appearing on his body that wasn’t his. He was only three years old when he asked his dad about the mark on his chest that turned out to be a scar from his soulmate, but already he knew that the prince always saved the damsel in distress. And Roman was, after all, very clearly a prince.

  
It wasn’t until the first time Roman actually met one of his soulmates in person that he realized just how far he would go to keep them protected, keep them safe.

* * *

It had started out like any normal Saturday afternoon. Like he did every week, after lunch Roman, dressed in the Prince costume he hardly ever took off, would walk with his mama to the park where they would stay for a couple hours until he got bored or until his mom got off work. Once at the park Roman had been quick to claim his spot in the tallest “tower”, and surveyed his “kingdom” down below. He stayed up there for several minutes trying to decide what type of quest he wanted to go on today: Last week's journey with a few other kids to find the supposed hidden castle hadn’t been successful, maybe he could try that again or perhaps there someone who needed a beast slain for them?

  
Roman let his eyes wander around the playground with a small frown as he ran through the different options in his head. They were all well and good quests, but they just didn’t seem like the right one. There had to be something else he could do...  
Ah-Ha! Roman grinned victoriously when he spotted what seemed to be a fight about to happen on the side of the playground furthest from the parents. He couldn’t tell exactly what was happening from this distance, but he knew it couldn’t be good. It was time to leap into action.  
Roman pulled out his foam sword as he got to the bottom, not stopping to think a second as he rushed forward. Maybe it would have been smarter if he did considering that as he got closer it became clear that the group of kids standing there were all much bigger than him, but at least it did give him the element of surprise.

  
And nothing yelled surprise quite like a boy in a prince costume charging out of nowhere, screaming as he did so. “Leave him alone! Or I will have no choice but to use this.”

  
Roman had positioned himself squarely between the boy sitting on the ground (covered in dirt and bruises that suggested this hadn’t been the first time this had happened), and the trio of older bullies that had gathered around him, and was now holding out his sword towards them ready to attack. They looked much bigger this close up, and Roman had to admit he might have been the tiniest bit nervous at the prospect of fighting them. Of course, he wouldn’t let that stop him (what kind of Prince would he be if he did?), but he had started to wish he had headed mama’s advice of making a plan before rushing into danger.

  
“Aw look, wittle Patty’s got himself a princess,” One of the boys cooed, causing both of his friends to laugh as if it what he said was actually funny and not just plain rude like it was in Roman’s opinion.

  
“Excuse you, I am a prince,” Roman responded, rolling his eyes at the boys, all of whom stopped laughing when he spoke up. “Although I don’t know why you think it’s a bad thing to be a princess anyway, have you watched a Disney movie?”

  
“Only babies watch those stupid things.” The second boy scoffed, and Roman could feel the anger bubbling up inside himself. Before he realized what he was doing, he threw his sword directly at the boy’s head.

  
“How dare you besmirch the name of Disney!” Roman screeched, causing more than a few heads to turn their way curiously. Roman hardly seemed to notice though, hands on his hips as he glared the three boys down. “Well? Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

  
The trio simply stared back at the young boy in what could only be described as shock, not speaking a word. After a minute Roman let out an indigent “Hmph”, walking over to grab his sword after the ground where it had fallen and sheathing it again. Then he turned, taking the hand of the boy on the ground and pulling him up, marching away as he muttered a string of angry words under his breath about their treatment of the worlds finest art form.

  
Roman didn’t stop until he had made it back to his tower, finally letting go of the younger boy’s hand and turning around to face him, mouth open to ask a question but it died on his lips as soon as he realized there were tears streaming down his cheeks. Alarmed, and not quite sure what to do, Roman rocked back and forth in his heels before finally he asked in a quiet voice “Uh, are you okay?”

  
This only served to make the boy start crying harder, and for a moment Roman was sure he had said something wrong until all of a sudden a bright grin crossed his face. The boy let out a small giggle, wiping his eyes before he spoke. “Sorry, I’m just not really used to people caring, you know? I’m Patton by the way.”

  
He held out his hand for Roman to shake, and after a moment’s hesitation, Roman did so, adopting his best prince voice as he introduced himself “I am Roman Castilla, the prince of this fair kingdom. Or, at least I am on Saturdays when I come with mama. Otherwise, my kingdom lies at my house. There are less subjects there, but a lot more cookies, which more than makes up the difference.”

  
Roman had dropped his prince voice after the first sentence, going back to regular Roman as he rambled on slightly, stopping only when Patton let out another giggle.

  
“Thank you for saving me, fair prince.” Patton grinned, curtseying to Roman who realized with a start that Patton was wearing a skirt. He couldn’t stop himself from staring, not only because it was quite pretty, but more important there was quite a long tear in it. Suddenly Roman remembered the boy had just been in the ground moments earlier, but before he could ask if he was alright, Patton’s smile was faltering and there was an anxious look in his eye as he looked at anywhere but Roman. “Oh, uhm... do you not like my skirt?”

  
Patton’s voice sounded so small all of a sudden, and guilty Roman realized it was all his fault for staring. Clearing his throat, Roman quickly reassured “No, no I absolutely love it! It reminds me a bit of something a princess would wear, except there’s quite a big tear in the side. I was simply worried you may have been hurt by those boys earlier.”

  
“Oh!” Patton’s face had split into a wide grin again and he laughed, though it sounded less genuine than it had before, and his voice was too casual as he dismissed Roman’s concern. “It’s nothing I’m not used to Roman, don’t worry about it.”

  
Roman frowned slightly, reaching out on impulse to grab one of Patton’s hands (like his mama always did when he needed comfort), ready to ask what exactly Patton meant, but the words died in his throat when he saw the mark on Patton’s wrist. The one that looked stunningly like the one on Roman’s.

  
“Patton...” Roman whispered softly after a moment, trying to contain his excitement as he made eye contact with the younger boy, already sure of the answer before he even asked (they always said when you meet your soulmate you would just know). “Do you... Do you happen to have a scar over your heart?”

  
“Yeah! How did you know that?” Patton asked curiously, scrunching his nose up confused as he tried to figure out just why Roman had seemed so excited by his words. Roman had started to jump excitedly around his “tower”, a huge grin on his face, and it dawned on Patton after a few minutes that... “Wait, Roman are you my soulmate?”

  
“Yes!!” Roman squealed, turning to face Patton still bouncing in place, his smile so wide he was worried his face might split in half. He couldn’t help it though, this was the best moment of his life. “Isn’t this the greatest news ever?”

  
Patton’s shock quickly faded into a large grin, and before Roman knew what was happening freckled arms were wrapping around his body, pulling him into a tight hug that he quickly reciprocated. After a few minutes, Patton had pulled back slightly to place a kiss on Roman’s cheek, giggling softly at the blush that formed in result. “Does this mean I also get to be a prince too?”

  
Roman grinned brightly, nodding his head quickly. “We can be the princes of this fair land together. It’ll be perfect.”  
Patton hummed in agreement, stepping away from Roman so that he could look off the side of the tower at the playground below. When Roman walked over a moment later to join him he noticed that Patton’s smile has faded, and a few tears had started running down his face.  
“...perfect.”

  
“Patton?” Roman tilted his head slightly in concern as he looked at the younger boy, reaching out to grab his hand again remembering suddenly what he had said just before Roman discovered they were soulmates. How he was used to being pushed around. And what he said when he first introduced himself about nobody ever seeming to care. “Why was there no one trying to stop those bullies earlier? Where were your parents?

  
“Do you know how I got that scar over my chest, Roman?” Patton asked, instead of answering the question his soulmate had asked directly, turning to face Roman, who shook his head not trusting himself to speak when he locked eyes with Patton and saw the quiet anger that lurked behind his tears. “I was born with an enlarged heart. They had to do surgery to replace it when I was only a few weeks old.”

  
Roman gasped quietly, his eyes wide as tried to keep himself from saying anything. His teacher had been reminding him a lot lately how rude it was to interrupt people when they were speaking (He couldn’t help it, he just... got excited sometimes), so he had been trying his best to be more conscious about it. But it was really, really hard. Especially now that Patton was no longer looking at him.

  
“My parents decided when they found out about my heart that they didn’t want me anymore. They abandoned me at the hospital without so much as a name. The nurses in the NICU were the ones who named me Patton.” Patton sniffled quietly, reaching a hand up to wipe away the tears he clearly wanted to stop, still not looking at Roman though he could feel his concerned eyes staring at him. “Once I was well enough they handed me over to a social worker to find a home. No one really wanted to adopt me when they found out about the health problems even though I know I was a really cute baby. So I was placed in the foster care system and wound up in the same group home I live in now because nobody still wants me. Those other boys live there too which is why no one really said anything about them picking on me. They do it all the time because I like to wear skirts and think it’s better to be nice to people then make fun of them.”

  
Patton sniffled again, finally turning back towards Roman with a small smile on his face, a forced sort of happiness in his voice as he tried to look on the bright side of it all. “It’s okay though. If they hadn’t been so mean I would never have met you so soon ‘cause you wouldn’t have needed to save me.”

  
Roman blinked in shock at Patton’s words, a smile spreading across his face as they really sunk in. “You’re just like softest little puffball ever.”

  
“Aww, thank you, Roman!” Patton giggled, a true smile lighting up his face and replacing any trace that he had been upset just moments before. “And you’re the bestest prince ever.”

  
“I do hope so. How else am I supposed to keep you safe?” Roman replied with a teasing laugh, pulling Patton into a hug, resting his head on top of the younger boy’s protectively much to Patton’s amusement.

  
“Roman?” Patton said softly after several minutes of them standing in silence holding each other. Roman hummed in response to show he was listening, pulling Patton a little closer when he sensed the slight hesitancy in his voice.

  
“Yes, Patton?”

  
“You... you’re not going to abandon me, right? You care about me?” Patton’s voice was hardly above a whisper, and it shook just slightly in uncertainty when he spoke. Roman knew if he could see the boy’s face there would probably be tears in his eyes, and part of him wanted to pull back to wipe them away (there had already been too many tears shed today), but the other part didn’t want to let go and Patton was holding onto his shirt by the fistfuls anyways so it wasn’t really like he could.

  
Roman did lift his head though so he could look down at Patton despite how awkward the angle may have been. “Patton, of course I care about you. I have dreamed my whole life of the day I would find you. Do you really think I would give you up after all that? I’m a prince, remember? When we find our true love, we never let them go.”

  
“You promise?” Patton asked, tilting his head up to look at Roman, and despite the angle, their eyes met, and Patton felt his heart swelling when he did. Roman’s eyes... they looked like safety. Like home.

  
“I promise,” Roman whispered, placing a soft kiss on Patton’s forehead, and the younger boy’s eyes fluttered shut at the contact, and he let out a content sigh.

For the first time in his life, Patton had found somebody who cared. For the first time ever, Patton had finally found his home.


End file.
